1. Bliss is in it to win it.After being named the Crew’s interim coach, it was safe to assume that Bliss might have some reservations about taking over for Warzycha after working with him so closely for so many years.

Bliss left no doubts that he considers himself a viable long-term candidate for the position.

“Not to put any pressure on Mark (McCullers) or Anthony (Precourt), but I am here for the job and I want the job and they know that,” Bliss said. “I’m ready for the challenges that lie ahead to be that next guy. Make no mistake about this: This is a career choice that I’m put myself into and one that I feel I’m up to the task to do.”

He will serve as technical director and interim coach for the remainder of the season. Bliss’ contract, which contained a clause that would have allowed him to assume a head coaching position elsewhere, is up at the end of the year. Bliss said he had not spoken to Warzycha because he wanted to be respectful and let some time pass.

2. Saturday’s loss did not doom Warzycha.“I don’t think I would hang it on a specific loss,” McCullers said. “To be honest, I’m not sure that the result on Saturday would have changed the decision that we’re announcing today. We were talking about Robert and his contract situation and when it was prudent and decided when we were knew that we were not going to renew or extend his contract that we were going to make that move (to part ways).”

He added: “I think once we made the decision that we were not going to renew his contract we wanted to make the change now to give us the maximum amount of time to conduct a thorough search and be able to take our time and really be very thorough and thoughtful as Anthony had stated. I think that, and also to go ahead and let Robert know our decision so that he has the maximum amount of time to find his next opportunity.”

3. The Crew might not hire full-time assistants to replace Ricardo Iribarren and Scoop Stanisic.“I think the day-to-day on the field is not the biggest challenge,” Bliss said. “Mike (Lapper) can handle a certain amount of players; I can handle a certain amount of players. The goalkeepers can be trained as well. We’ve got some guys that we’re going to reach out to that we know are in our system and can certainly step in three, four days a week when need be in the mornings to help us fulfill that on the staffing side. Whether those coaches travel is a completely different topic, but the day-to-day training I think we’re covered with some of the options that we’ve got.”

From a scouting standpoint, Bliss said more responsibility will fall on his shoulders as well as Lapper, the lone assistant who was retained.

“In terms of resources on the scouting side, we’ve got some other people we can lean on,” Bliss said. “Mike, myself will probably have to pick up the phone a little more often than we have done in the past. We’ll find some guys regionally that we can send to a game or two during the college season to look at those players. Technology is fantastic with all the scouting software we have. If we need to send somebody, we send somebody. We have those things buttoned up; it’s a matter of talking to those we’re talking about and getting them on board.”

4. McCullers has a list of criteria for picking a new coach.“I think all I would say right now is I think it’s important that we have somebody that is a fit with our corporate culture and a fit with our brand pillars, somebody that has buy-in to who we are and what we stand for as a club,” he said. “Beyond that, I would say that we’re looking for somebody who has a strong vision that fits within that culture and brand. And then other things, certainly communication is an important factor and some other technical aspects, vision on player developments and things like that.”

5. The front office structure could change.McCullers said that while Bliss could possible return to his technical director role exclusively should the club hire someone else as coach, the job as it stands might not even be there.

“The short answer to that is it all depends on what the decision is,” he said. “Whether it’s Brian or whether it’s somebody else, but there’s definitely a chance Brian would move back into the technical director role. We’re also going to take this opportunity to look at our competition. It makes sense for us to look at other models, look at what other teams in Major League Soccer and around the world are doing in terms of the competition staff and structure.

“(It) could be a general manager, could be a sporting director. We want to keep our options open and look at a lot of different variables.”

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